Yearly Archives: 2024

In Defense of US Fuel Economy Standards

2024-11-22T12:04:40-05:00

I had dinner recently with a friend who is a money manager.  He told me that he planned to buy stock in a major automobile company.  He said that the stock had earnings of $2.00 per share.  But that was because the company was making $3.00 per share on its sale of gasoline-powered cars and losing $1.00 per share on its sales of electric vehicles.  With the incoming Trump administration set to loosen or eliminate the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, he figured that the company would soon be out of the EV manufacturing business and back to the $3.00 [...]

In Defense of US Fuel Economy Standards2024-11-22T12:04:40-05:00

The Advanced Battery Industry on the Day After

2024-11-07T16:43:33-05:00

The 2024 general election is mercifully over.  Many in the advanced battery, renewable energy and electric vehicle industries are apprehensive about the result to say the least.  While some apprehension is warranted, it is important to keep a few of things in mind. First is that advanced batteries and electric vehicles are not the product of government policy.  They are the product of fundamental changes in energy and automotive technologies that will continue regardless of political leadership.  Government policy cannot affect the existence of this change (though it can affect its pace).  Politics will not prevent the adoption of a superior [...]

The Advanced Battery Industry on the Day After2024-11-07T16:43:33-05:00

New Li-Bridge Initiative on Tracking and Tracing Lithium Batteries

2024-08-30T14:19:02-04:00

On August 29, I had the pleasure of participating in the fifth government-industry forum of the Li-Bridge project at Argonne National Laboratory outside Chicago.  The forum sought to collect information and opinions from leading private companies and government agencies on various schemes that have been proposed to track and trace the contents and performance attributes of high capacity lithium-based batteries over their lifetime use in commerce.  The best known of those schemes, which the forum discussed extensively, was the EU’s Battery Passport. Representatives from more than 50 companies and government agencies participated in the forum.  The participants represented the entire breadth [...]

New Li-Bridge Initiative on Tracking and Tracing Lithium Batteries2024-08-30T14:19:02-04:00

We Need a New Approach to China

2024-08-02T17:25:00-04:00

Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of extending an invitation to Robin Zeng Yuqun, the Chairman of CATL, to attend a meeting of the Board of Directors of NAATBatt International in Detroit next October.  CATL is a longtime NAATBatt member and the largest manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries in the world.  This week I was informed that Mr. Zeng would be unable to attend because of geopolitical issues. NAATBatt’s core mission is to promote the development, commercialization and manufacture of advanced battery technology in North America.  No organization has been more concerned about the growing concentration of lithium battery supplies and [...]

We Need a New Approach to China2024-08-02T17:25:00-04:00

Lithium Battery Recycling Workshop VII Agenda to Debut Soon

2024-03-29T22:32:01-04:00

NAATBatt will hold the NAATBatt Lithium Battery Recycling Workshop VII in Montreal, Quebec on August 7-9, 2024.  The workshop will be NAATBatt’s seventh annual look at the opportunities and challenges of creating circularity in the supply chain of lithium-based batteries. Several factors will make the workshop unique.  First and foremost, the workshop will be the first conference that NAATBatt hosts in Canada.  The organizational mission of NAATBatt focuses on the North American advanced battery market.  So we are thrilled to have our Canadian friends more directly in NAATBatt programming. The agenda for the workshop will address issues and challenges that are [...]

Lithium Battery Recycling Workshop VII Agenda to Debut Soon2024-03-29T22:32:01-04:00

In Memory of Ralph J. Brodd

2024-03-01T22:11:22-05:00

Last month, the lithium battery industry lost another giant: Ralph J. Brodd.  Ralph had not been active in the battery industry for several years.  As a result his name may not be familiar to many who entered the industry during that time.  But Ralph may be one of the most consequential figures in the history of advanced battery technology in the United States. Ralph’s resume reads like a laundry list of positions and accomplishments.  He was a past President of the Electrochemical Society. He was an advisor to most of the national laboratories working on advanced battery technology.  He published more [...]

In Memory of Ralph J. Brodd2024-03-01T22:11:22-05:00
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